The Organic Horticulture Production System

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The Organic Horticulture Production System
Heather Friedrich University of
Arkansas heatherf_at_uark.edu
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Organic Production Principles

• Defined according to the National Organic Program
  (NOP) as
• an ecological production management system that
  promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological
  cycles and soil biological activity. It is based
  on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on
  management practices that restore, maintain and
  enhance ecological harmony.
• Production is based on a holistic biological
  system not input substitution
• Soil based system

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Organic Production Principles

• Management-intensive Routine observation of
  plant health weeds
• Rule of Thumb No synthetic fertilizers or
  pesticides (including urea or Round-Up) few
  exceptions eg. pheromones
• Rule of Thumb Only naturally based products, few
  exceptions eg. lead, arsenic, nicotine
• No GMO seeds or irradiated products

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Feed the soil to feed the plant

• Build/maintain healthiest soil possible through
• Crop rotation including cover crops
• Tillage
• Fertilizers
• Mulch
• Irrigation
• Weed management
• Insect, Arthropod Disease management

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What goes on in the soil that is so important?
Elaine R. Ingham The Soil Biology Primer 
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Soil Fertility Management

• Compost animal-based provides more N
• Manure cannot be applied less than120 days prior
  to harvest for a food crop
• Cover crops Legume/Grass mixtures
• Fish emulsion, seaweed
• Plant based fertilizers
• Alfalfa meal
• Soybean meal

Soil food web!!
Field pea-oat-mustard cover crop
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Benefits of Compost

• Nutrient recycling
• cornerstone of ecologically-based farming
• Assists in moisture retention in soils
• Slow-release of nutrients
• May reduce disease incidence due to an increase
  of microbial populations
• may out-compete disease causing organisms

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Benefits of Compost

• Helps reduce odors of original feedstocks
• Destruction of weed seeds and pathogens
• Destruction of potentially harmful microorganisms
  such as E.coli 0157h7 or salmonella

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Compost Rules for Organics

• Can be applied to a crop at any time if it was
  composted according to NOP rules
• Made with plant or animal materials
• No biosolids or any other unapproved inputs
  (refer to National List)
• CN ratio of 151 to 401
• In-vessel or static aerated pile system must
  reach a minimum of 131F for at least 3 days
• A windrow system must reach at least 131F for 15
  days and be turned at least 5x so that that all
  materials reach temp
• must be cured or aged
• If compost does not meet standards, follow the
  same rules as raw manure

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Crop Rotations annual crops

• Rotation must include a cover crop and work to
  maintain or improve soil organic matter
• Consider crop nutrition, soil fertility
• Interrupt insect, weed and disease cycles
• Pests unable to find hosts when crops are changed
• Change the crop ecology shallow/deep roots,
  cold/warm season, row/drilled crops, foliage
  density, heavy/light feeders

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10 Year Rotation SchemeAlex and Betsy Hitt,
Chapel Hill NC http//www.ssawg.org/hitt.html
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Planting Diversity

• Efficiency
• space
• soil
• water
• reduces insects pressure
• increases beneficial insects

Early season spring greens and garlic
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Mixed lettuce greens gladiolas
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Perennial CropsSoil building Biodiversity

• Groundcover management mixed spp
• Mulches
• Cover crops in strips
• Insectary plantings

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WEEDS

• Understand the biology of weeds
• annual, fixed perennial, wandering perennial, the
  lifecycle, establishment
• Good soil for crops good for weeds
• Action
• Remove or Prevent establishment --change the
  environment
• Many little hammers approach

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WEEDS! Little Hammers

• Crop rotation cover crops
• -remember crop ecology
• Cultivation (timely) hand-hoe, rototilling,
  cultivators, hoeing - dust mulch
• Mulches straw, fabric, wool, flax, plastic
  (landfill issues)
• Flamer
• Organic herbicides
• Biodiversity insects, animals eat weed seeds

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Mechanical Weed Control

• Cultivation (timelyshallow) hoe, cultivators
  - dust mulch
• Push-pull hoes
• ergonomic handles
• Hand scrapers and cultivators for tight spaces
• Rototilling, multivators, tine basket weeders
  can get close and in-btw plants
• Exhaust root system (perennial weeds) deplete
  storage reserves
• Requires 6-8 timely treatments in yr 1, then 3-5
  the following year

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Tillage Soil Health

• Criticism of organic agriculture is use of
  tillage
• Negative effects of tillage, offset by the use of
  cover crops and additions of organic matter
  (compost, manures, mulch, etc)
• USDA-ARS research showed organic methods can
  increase Organic Matter more than conventional
  no-till
• Must use caution against excessive tillage

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Mulches

• Prevent seeds from germinating, can smother out
  some weeds
• Conserve water, minimal soil disruption,
• Use local resources straw, fabric, wood,
  newspaper, plastic/landsc. fabric
• Be careful of weed seeds in straw
• Especially good for perennial systems
  blueberries, blackberries, flowers, trees
• Living mulches eg plant fall clover crop, mow
  at flowering to kill it, plant into residue

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Paper mulch in lilies snapdragons Rowcover over
tomatoes and landscaping fabric between rows
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Wood chip mulch laid over newspapers in walk way
Wood chip mulch, possibly free resource
leaf mulch applied in fall to perennial flowers
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Other methods of weed control

• Flamer especially handy during wet conditions
  no mechanical tools
• Broadleaf weeds more susceptible to flaming

• Organic herbicides
• Matran, Burnout II, Green Match, others
• Phytotoxic burn plant tissue
• Thoroughly coat weed
• Non-selective

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Crop selection

• Some crops are more competitive against weeds
  than others
• Rapid germination, growth, dense canopy
• Use transplants vs direct seeding for crops if
  possible
• Transplant or plant into a clean bed
• Allow a flush of weeds to emerge then till under

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Insect Weed Interaction
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Cover crops in Weed Management How do they work?

• Smother weeds by out competing light, water,
  nutrients
• Release allelopathic chemicals that suppress weed
  germination
• As they decompose, abundant microbial communities
  suppress germination
• prevent soil erosion
• aka green manure
• Recycle and scavenge nutrients
• Provide organic matter

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Cover crops

• How to incorporate into annual rotation
• Time Space niches
• Time - plant cover crop before or after harvest
  of main crops (eg. plant buckwheat between spring
  greens and fall tomatoes)
• Space plant low growing cover crop within main
  crop, after establishment (eg. plant legume into
  sweetcorn)

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Cover crops for Southeast

• Summer cover crops plant after frost
• Annual lespedeza
• Soybeans
• Southern peas
• Buckwheat
• lespedeza
• Sorghum-Sudangrass

• Winter cover crops plant in Fall
• Hairy vetch
• Crimson clover
• Subterranean clover
• Austrian winter pea
• Grain rye, wheat, oats
• Brassicas (radish, turnip)

Crimson clover
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Insect Management

• Crop rotation healthy soil
• Enhance natural plant defenses
• Prevention - clean up after harvest destroy all
  infested fruits/vegetables
• Row covers - keep pests out put over plants when
  young and remove at flowering
• Companion planting and trap crops
• Harvest early variety selection
• Know your pest--life cycle, natural enemies,
  relationship with climatic conditions--and manage
  at vulnerable period

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Biological Control

• Critical component of organic insect management
• Natural enemies (predators, parasites, nematodes
  and pathogens) exist for nearly every pest
• Conservation of beneficials is key
• Augmentation (purchased beneficials) can work in
  certain cases (e.g. greenhouses)

Michigan Field Crop and Pest Ecology and
Management , 2000
Trichopoda pennipes
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Conservation of Beneficials

• Maintain adequate supply of food (prey, pollen,
  nectar) through plant diversity in the farm
  landscape
• Insectary plants buckwheat, clovers, herbs-dill,
  mint, yarrow flowers- gaillardia, allysum,
  daisies
• Use of toxic pesticides limited to outbreaks

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Approved Treatments

• Use as last resort--may affect beneficials
• Check with Certification Agency
• Check with National List
• Check with Organic Materials Review Institute
  (OMRI) www.omri.org
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), lepidopteran
  specific
• Botanical insecticides pyrethrum, sabadilla,
  neem
• Other natural treatments D.E., garlic, hot
  pepper, vegetable oils and soaps

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Disease Management
Disease Triangle for disease to occur, all 3
must be present
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Disease Management

• Crop rotation healthy soil
• Disease resistant/tolerant cultivars breeding
  programs
• Pruning spacing- promote air-flow
• Removal of diseased leaves/plants - sanitation
• Compost application compost tea
• Organic fungicides baking soda,
  garlic, milk efficacy dependant on several
  things
• Serenade Bacillus subtilis
• powdery mildew, early late
  blight, gray mold

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Compost for Disease Suppression
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Organic Breeding

• Seed breeding under organic conditions
• Organic Seed Alliance, Abundant Life, Save Our
  Seeds, Cornell - Public Seed Initiative, Seeds of
  Change
• Organic producer involvement
• Organically bred varieties can thrive under less
  than optimum conditions -seedling vigor,
  efficient nutrient uptake
• Have multiple gene resistance -cuticle thickness,
  trichomes, phenols

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Resources

• NCAT-ATTRA,
• www.attra.org
• Ag groups SSAWG
• Annual conf
• Resources
  www.ssawg.org/ed-resources.html
• Local Extension office
• Field days
• Local Farmers Market
• Internet
• www.attra.org
• www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexIE.htm
• www.extension.org
• www.ofrf.org Organic Farming Research
  Foundation

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Acknowledgements

• This presentation address general organic
  production practices. It is to be to use in
  planning and conducting organic horticulture
  trainings. The presentation is part of project
  funded by a Southern SARE PDP titled Building
  Organic Agriculture Extension Training Capacity
  in the Southeast
• Project Collaborators
• Elena Garcia, University of Arkansas CESHeather
  Friedrich, University of ArkansasObadiah Njue,
  University of Arkansas at Pine BluffJeanine
  Davis, North Carolina State UniversityGeoff
  Zehnder, Clemson UniversityCharles Mitchell,
  Auburn UniversityRufina Ward, Alabama AM
  UniversityKen Ward, Alabama AM UniversityKaren
  Wynne, Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network